We put together plans
But it seems you weren't a fan
All the money and toil to see someone
All the effort ruined for some fun

The more we work to keep you down
The more you stir and make us frown
It's like you don't know that we care
It's like you want our souls to bare

But we will see this through
You can't scare us with your 'boo'
You seek to spread with your velocity
But you hadn't countered on our tenacity

20k to go
20k of dirt and grit
Pounding out the tread
Rushing through the thoughts in my head

10k to go
10k of twists and turns
Take on another hill
Take on another thrill

1k to the finish
Looks like I'll make it alive
More than a journey of strife
Moreover another page in this wonderful life

A conker just fell in front of me
It popped open
I grasped it fresh and warm from its shell

New life seeking new life
Warm seed seeking warm soil
I merged with nature for a second

More conkers dropped around me
More colour
More life

Walking to the farm a fox caught sight of me
Up the lane he looked and he stopped
He sat down and waited
Right down on his hind legs like a puppy

I stopped and looked
"What is he thinking?' said the fox
'What is he thinking?' said the man

He waited, sitting there all relaxed
I moved
And he left..

There's a hole in the sky where my soul fits in
Did you see it open last night?
It comes and goes when you least expect it

There's a hole in the thoughts of the world leaders
Did you see it on social media last night?
It comes and goes just before the broadcast starts

There's a hole in the socks of the poor
Did you see it on TV this year?
It never goes away

You know things are dire
When you study the Internet and buy an air fryer
A material abduction
That comes in a large box with no instruction

You search in vain for something to cook
Struggling on YouTube, you make that look
Of someone lost in absolution consumption
No sense of normal behaviour resumption

With social top trump psychology
We debate 'extra crisp' technology
Creating new food mashups from hell
What comes out of the sliding drawer no-one can tell

After dehydrating decent food
You may find you need to do some good
Switch off that new fire
And bin your air fryer

My wife wants me to stop speaking with an Alien tongue
I picked it up whilst sleeping and now use it for fun
A frequent burst of sounds at speed
Enough for human ears to bleed

Burr boopty book, burr boopty boop
Ahta batta batta ba
Ahta batta batta ba
Ahta batta batta ba

I'm communicating with them now
I'm through to their leader Emperor Mow
His tone is full of rage
He doesn't know I'm a man of middle age.

If you start speaking alien to your spouse
And rambling in the middle of the house
Please keep the conversation glee
As we don't need World War 3

Today an alien came to my door
He asked why I didn't answer before?
I asked which planet was he from?
He said it was something to do with his Mom

She passed and now was up in ths sky
No reason, the other aliens let her die
I said there was nothing to do
Perhaps he could ask for shelter at the zoo?

He said I know that your kind can be good
Is there any way I could spare some food?
I said that English cuisine might not be to his palette
He said that it was probably better than on his planet

Could you not go back to the ship?
He said no, this is the end of the trip
Can't you fly back into the sky?
If I leave I will die

Which planet are you from?
He said with mirth....earth
I choked again..
His name is ...Ben

So, if an alien knocks at your door
Please help him to get some more
Don't assume what you see
Is something ex-planetary

I want an 'almost' garden
That's amongst done
Turned over soil
Staring into the sun

Unfinished fences
Half weeded walls
Root filled corners
Plants too tall

Half finished benches
Flowers still in pots
Overgrown grass
Trees covered in moss

Almost gardens take your stand
Stay unfinished from human hand
Let your presence be unhinged
Free us from our neatness binge

Anticipation keeps pulsing at me
When I want something to be
The surge of excitement is like a drug
I keep wanting it, like a mug

The next job or party event
The next high or personal descent
The next meeting or social entity
The next considered expected positivity

The event goes by
It really did fly
Anticipation fades
The outcome rarely makes the grade

I belong to a wrong wing think tank
I like my toast buttered on no sides
I go in through the exit and..
I'm comfortable being uncomfortable

Morning, so nice to hate you
Get out, we were expecting you
I have have always disliked you
You'll, never be my friend

Come back, I'd like to give you a Glasgow kiss
Rest assured, I have no confidence in you
Once a family, never a family
Don't take what it is yours, I worked hard to provide it for you

I'm an Architect of air
I exist to sit between you and progress
You hear my name said all of the time
On social media and TV

I am the Architect of nothing
I exist to create nothing for you
Even though my remit is to help you
My pleasure is your displeasure

I am the Architect of broken time
My clock is always off and I'm always late
There is no finish or completion
My mantra is to process air
Input to output with no added value

Back to burgers
Back to beer
Streets full of laughter
Streets full of cheer

Back to haircuts
Back to the gym
People start to chatter
People start to grin

Long time coming
Long time to sleep
Ok to vent now
Ok to weep

Next stage is coming
Next to open up
More fun to be having
More new life erupts

Behind the waterfall
I stand tall
Time stands still
There is nothing here of ill

All is at peace
Worries have no place
Happiness on my face
More people enter with grace

Join me behind the waterfall
Hear my gentle call
Hear the water calling you
Do not miss this view

Walking through the park
Light pores through trees and leaves
Two swans stand casually preening themselves
Their white feathers lifting gently then settling, then lifting in the wind
A heron parks on a wooden post in the pond
Signets busy themselves on the surface
Just being, being there to witness this
That's all that is needed today
Being..

I see you there
Light of grace, light of air
Wings spread out
Be-clamed with the sun

Who am I to stir you?
Through my kitchen window
What have I got that can't wait?
What have I got that I can give you?

You lift a wing and clean it
You shimmer yourself in the heat
You look up to the sun
Stay happy little one

Were we weak to react to unprovoked attack?
Did we let down those n break our human pact?
Politicians debate lethal aid with cynicism
Contributing to our mortal bleakism

Pity the child that knocks on our shore
Pity the government that's rotten to the core
To stop a life with tabloid criticism
Contributes more to our mortal bleakism

Blinded by sweat
Blinded by the threat
Of obvious noise
From your Internet toys

It's gone beyond time to play
It's time to refocus words not images that stay
In your latest Instagram post
Be a word prophet toast, not a primevil tribal ghost

Let the words tell the story
Why the future is not gory
Time to take mental stock
Time to rework words that rock

I met a man who swapped his head for a brick
I said 'hey man really...really are you thick?'
He said no.. no.. no.. he wasn't sick
Like most things these days he bought it with one-click

He said he didn't want to see
The world we live in now, the null decree
The division and fighting about
The hate, the polarising shout

I said 'man that's cool right...tick!"
It was then I went online 'n ordered that brick

burnt colours on show
awaiting the possibility of snow
ochre, reds, brown and black
falling, tumbling on the track

wandering through colour
wandering through time
soaking up the colours
taking up the climb

Calmer skies are coming
Through nimbus and cumulus
From cirrus to alto
They are coming

Calmer words are coming
From rhetoric to echo chamber
From missile attack to mortal danger
They are coming

Kinder people are coming
From torrid social media to ignorant stand
From punch to outreached hand
They are coming

capture the light
capture the stars
be the spirit

dance on rainbows
dance on cars
be the spirit

smile when down
smile, don't frown
be the spirit

I want a cardboard world
Where desks sag and break in the rain
And people look at me in disdain

All the temporary creations I see
I didn't build for you, I built for me

Cardboard seats and cars
Cardboard hotels and bars
Cardboard rockets for Mars

All temporary cardboard builds to try
All cardboard inners to fry

There's nothing quite as temporary
As a new age cardboard century

This morning I caught the sky
Right in my hands
Nebulous, Cumulus all in one hand
Brightness, brightness , beaming out of my fingers

Holding it up
The power is unimaginable
I try not to put it out
Then suddenly...
Like a butterfly I let it go

Chaffinch on bended straw
Holding on for the ride
Like a red metal horse on a giant spring
I stare, it sings

3000 crows, maybe more
Gather noisly on the telegraph wires
4000 crows now, maybe more
Start fighting, some gore

Sea mist coming in over the Antrim shore
Sea mist cooling air round our skin
Farmer's wince for the time of day
Too late for the last of the hay

Night draws in on cityscapes
Sirens blaring, people swearing
Night people during night times
Streets move go from muted silence to untamed violence

People *******, people passing
Spare us some change, sorry, sorry luv
Gangs of women labelled hen do
Gangs of men, sailor hats drinking brew

Donna kebabs here, curry sauce there
Avoiding deliveroo, deliver who?
Alchemists mixing drinks and dry ice
More bouncers on the door, really, really be nice

Lovers drinking coffee liqueurs
Haters acting like cold Fuhrers
Avoiding bike, electric bike, trike, man, woman
Avoiding cars, buses and vans

12 year old screaming lying on wall
Police arriving there's a squall
In the next alley silence beacons us in
A different world a different din

Cloud people, living in the clouds
Wondering what it was like for the 'ground born'
City scapes, towering above ruined land masses
Avoiding the shame of centuries of negligence

Sealed solitude, as we ensure our cocoons survive the pressure at 30,000 feet
Video relay, of the ancient times skipping in fields and harvesting crops
Self sustenance, as we protect our supplies and start a new life

Tribal allegiance, as we maintain a strict discipline of following the 'sky script'
Remote sensing, looking for residual life on the ground
Next gen, as we build the mother ship
To take us off this broken planet

Cold thru stone
Cold thru to the bone
Can't get warm today
Wandering from radiator to radiator

Change a top
Change a crop
Chilling flesh too cold
Winter story untold

Need a cuppa
Need some suppa
Gritting teeth need to stop
Let's turn up the heat before we drop

Comfortable being uncomfortable
Comfortable with war and terror in the Middle East
Uncomfortable with the new price of Netflix and the Supermarket's next feast.

Guilty and not guilty
Guilty of walking past the homeless person
Not guilty in protesting against hate's latest version

Ashamed and not ashamed
Ashamed of the toothpaste stain on my denim
Not ashamed of homeless children in Yemen.

Up the hill past the waterfall
Trippn thru bracken and gorse
Fireweed lines the path
Thru moss covered dense dark wood, no remorse

201m above see level, when shall I stop?
Nettles coarse my legs as I step up over stone n roots
Mist and dew cling to me
As I clamber up the wood with climbing boots

220m now I think I see the top?
The viewing seat beckons
But the top is not the top
And more steps needed I reckon

240 m now I see the top
Views of Calandar town appear
I can see 200 miles maybe more perhaps to England
Heathers blossoms like veneer

245m I'm there
My heart rate peaks at 170 beats per minute
Scottish history below me
Time to descend and create some more

Culturally connected
Kneeling with both hands
Deep in home soil
Staring at green mountains

Culturally disconnected
Hands on head
On unfamiliar ground
Looking for solace

Gentle seas reflect light near the island of Brac
Local men tender their allotments early in the morning
Swifts start to dart about
A local lady carries herbs and flowers down hill to the restaurants

Old men gather for coffee and cigarettes
People carry bread and cherry baklava from the bakery
The butcher's door is always open, he is working hard
Tourists sprint about in a hurry

Kids play cards as if it's the 1970's
Ladies show off dramatic tattoos on their backs
Walking down the steps to the beach
I sit near the outdoor shower and relax, getting ready to dive in

Dangerously attractive
Sentient being
Sitting opposite...
God has given her a full hand

Seriously smooth
Androgynous clothed alien
Knows her place in society
Plays the room

Confidently quiet
She eyes up the weak in front of her
And turns her head back to the glass wall
It's not time to preen

Smiling nervously
The weak gibber and gabber
Trying to place a hook
But the sea is vast and the catch is not biting

Building a deathbox for the enemy to find
Concealed entrance, lethal aid inside for being so unkind
Not to big, not to small
Evil body shaped for evil to crawl
To meet their destiny
Revenge for the fall

We tried non-lethal but lethal aid is the way
To stem the fight
To stop the afray
Checking inside for the number killed
Is a bloodthirsty task, an uneasy chill

Removing the bodies is an arduous task
Left out for the red-kite
The dinner table is vast
Reset the mechanism, conceal the top deck
Ready for the next wave
Ready to wreck

After the freeze came the warm days in December 22
The days starting getting longer
The morning grass dew

The leaves stayed on for longer this year
Due to the warmth of November
We didn't expect it
We didn't remember

Walking is joy
And joy to see
Man and women and dogs
Forest, leaves and the trees

You came to me thirty years later
Whilst I was on my back sleeping

Like yesterday you haven't aged
The emotion is the same
The same smile remains

This meeting place is sacred
I stir..
and you are gone...

digital noise...everyday
humming at low frequency
disrupting the human flow

human noise... everyday
balking at volume in desparation
causing harm to all

animal noise.. everyday
beautiful tones and chirps
a free choir that brings joy

we have the choice to subscribe to all of these noises
or to seek peace with careful selection, wisdom and a smile

When did we become so disconnected?
Was it when we became so connected?
To every screen in sight
To every pixel in the night

When did we stop talking?
Was it when we stopped walking?  
Side by side
Across the countryside

When did we stop writing letters?
Was it when we engaged our debtors?
For everything we need to own
For every in App purchase in the game zone

When did we stop being selfless?
Was it when we became a menace?
To every man and women we see
We take what we want then flee

Dreich day
Wet rain falling
Wet icy rain falling
Cooling my face
Cooling my body

Robin soaked
Blackbird happy
Blue **** flitting
Sparrows committing

Dreich day
Endless grey

Dusk draws in on the shortest day
The darkness frames the end of the longest year
I walk towards the future with nervous excitement

Dogs great people excitedly at doors not knowing what lockdown is
People great dogs knowing what lockdown is
Animal ignorance trumps human evolution

Roll on the new year
Roll on longer evenings of light
Roll on 'the end in sight'

With mighty aplomb
You drop your vitreous 'view bomb'
With unorthodox precision
You squander my decision

You have one filter
And that is to kilter
The views that don't come from a stranger
The views that echo in your echo chamber

Fair pity to those who reach out with an olive branch
To give you another chance
A chance to move away from grief
A chance to turn over another leaf

Light fades to dark blue
The almost time
Almost there

Birds finish off the days work
People finish off their days work
It's as if time is pausing a little

The next few minutes wander in
Dark blue changes to black
Black forms the night

Empty is the soul
Cruel is the mind
That makes me think of me
Instead of others

Empty is the pocket
Of the old man on the street
We pass without looking at
We pass and pretend that isn't there

Empty is the world
The world that we live in
Deep are the pockets of the rich men
The rich men that don't act or care

Boltzmann's constant rains
To reverse the great brain drain
Inversion must feign

With many atoms
Irreversibility
Hello entropy

They say when you are given a terminal diagnosis
That you reach a moment of clarity
A moment where material goods don't matter
A moment where that thing 'n'
her and him fighting doesn't matter either
A moment of euphoria

Psychologists debate why it takes this diagnosis to trigger such happiness?
Why can't we bottle up that feeling and press play today?
Let's not wait until that day
Let's go for that moment
Let's embrace Euphoria

Everything has value
Everything you see
Everyone can contribute
Everyone can be

Nothing is worth ignoring
Nothing is less than than it's sum
Nothing needs a break
Nothing is not fake

Something is worth holding onto
Something is the start
Something is the mind start
Something is the art

Hope is the ignition
Hope is the cart
Hope will take us to that place
Hope is that smile on your face

Rounding the corner
Walking from the house  
I'm thinking of my work day
Thinking what to say

Back through the woods
Smiling at the horse
Up through the copse
Strutting through the coarse

Down the busy road
Cars start to toot
Home beckons soon
Ending my fake commute

Copter blades awaken me
I start the march to the bus stop
The soldiers march to the safety of the barracks gap

Storytellers abound
The craic is good
We knew, he knew, she knows
Did you hear?

Weather draws in
Wet rain again
Patience is tested
Staring out again

Will it clear?
We have some work to do
Bullocks to dose
Lamb to stew

Flickering sunlight
Bursting through hedges
Bursting through trees

Flickering sunlight
Dancing off my glasses
Dancing off the masses

Flickering sunlight
Glorius days
Flickering sunlight
Entropy rays

Flowers dropping from a tree
White glimpses of light
Softly swirling, spinning, spinning
Gently resting on green
Time standing still for a few seconds.